A year ago last Saturday, the Friends Meeting I’m part of took a big step, for us: we rented a booth at the Alamance Pride Festival, held in a large park in downtown Burlington NC. Outwardly, our booth was not particularly eye-catching. Amid the fluttering of a thousand floating rainbows, the yellow table banner we … Continue reading The Shadow at the Pride Festival
Burlington is in North Carolina’s Alamance County, once notorious as a hotbed of the Ku Klux Klan back in the day, Neo-Confederates now. A 35-foot statue of a rebel soldier still guards the county courthouse, and the monument itself is surrounded by a thick wrought iron fence and plenty of Don’t-Tread-On-Me attitude. The county … Continue reading A Quaker Doing His Incognito Bit in North Carolina Politics
New York Times — On Politics September 23, 2024 POSTCARD FROM RALEIGH A church where Mark Robinson still has defenders By Jess Bidgood — September 23, 2024 The latest, with 43 days to go It was about an hour into the 11 a.m. service on Sunday, and Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr. of the Upper Room … Continue reading “Nazi, Schmazi. . .” Mark Robinson Retains Some Church Backers
Why September Should Be “Willie Frye” Month — Part Four- Conclusion [Part One is here.] [Part Two is here.] [Part Three is here.] 21. 1994-1995 — In a 1994 statement to the NC Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel Committee, Willie wrote, “It seems somehow odd to be on trial for heresy within the Society of … Continue reading Part Four (Conclusion): Why September Should Be “Willie Frye Month”
Why September Should Be “Willie Frye” Month — Part Three [Part One is here.] [Part Two is here.] [Part Four is here.] Part Three: In the first two installments, we followed Willie Frye Jr. from his origin in a fundamentalist, staunchly segregationist southern culture, into the Friends pastoral ministry in North Carolina, through a religious … Continue reading Part Three: Why September Should Be “Willie Frye” Month (For Quakers & Justice Seekers)